The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 1988, PAGE 7 PAGE SEVEN VERY SCARY Anyone living in this area has surely beard one of the radio commercials or ,seen the newspaper advertisements declaring that Ed Broadbent is "very scary" The National Citizens' Coalition is spending $500,000 to stop Ed Broadbent and the NDP. That's a lot ofmoney. In a nation that in recent years has moved decisively in the direction of open aboveboai'd politics with strict spending limits on candidates and conflict-of-interest guidelines, we have a right to ask whois the NCC and where does their money corne from. Ail they will say is "private donations". They received well in excess of $2 million in "private donations" last year and it wasn't in one dollar bills. Who donated it and what was their motivation? That's none of our business apparently. That's scary! If success is measured in monetary terms, the NCC is by far the most successful of Carnada's political pressure groups. Although it is small "c" conservative, many of its members find the Conservative party rather too pink for their liking. The success of the NCC comes not so much from their political philosophy but from the smooth manner in which they have nanipulated a few key issues. It would be a profound understatement to say that the NCC is anti-union and their most successfull rallying cry has been their opposition to certain cornerstones of our system of union-management relations. They are currently engaged in a court battle with the Canadian labour movement over the use of compulsory union dues for political purposes without the consent of individual workers. On the surface the issue seems to be motherhood and apple pie - freedom of choice and association are fundamental to our democracy and the use of dues for political purposes which we don't support as individuals would be wrong. That's the position the NCC has presented to the courts and to the public through full-page ads in Canada's big dailies, and radio and TV ads as well. But what about the owner of a business. He makes a profit as a result of the labours of his employees - when he supports a political party (or even, heaven forbid, the NCC), does he have to get the permission of his employees? Although the two situations may appear profoundly different, it is really only one of structure - in the eyes of the law, the union is an association of its members and represents them. The company is viewed as a chattel which belongs to somebody, not as the sum of all the elements, including its employees, which makes it profitable. Therefore by the legal logic of the NCC, company owners can support any political cause they like regardless of how repugnant it is to their employees, but a democratic union certified by a majority of the employees and with a democratically elected executive cannot. That shifts the balance of political power towards business and wealth which is precisely where the NCC wants it to be. That's scary! Actually, the case presented to the courts was a very nar- row one involving a community college teacher, Merv Lavigne, who had opted out of his union. The amount of his dues actually spent on political action was only about $2 per year. But the NCC blew the case into a "David vs Goliath" struggle which has netted them well over $1 million in specific contributions in the last two years ...over and above their normal contributions. Where does the NCC spend all this money. We're not too sure - the NCC hides their financial affairs under the guise of a private corporation. If they were a political party they would have to open their books - both contributors and recipients would be public information - but the NCC, although very blatantly political, is exempt. That's scary! But back to their Ed Broadbent campaign. Their ads tell us that Broadbent is scary because he means what he says. That's precisely why he's Canada's most popular political leader right now; we've had our fill of those who say one thing and do the opposite. Nevertheless, the NCC wants us all to know what terrible things the NDP stands for ...and then twists the facts. They want us te believe that Ed Broadbent opposes private property - they know it isn't true (he is against putting it in the constitution which is a very different thing) but the ads are cleverly worded to mislead us. They trot out the old NATO bugaboo - the protection of freedom, democracy and aIl that "wrap yourself in the flag" patriotism stuff. NATO is almost 40 years old - tbe world bas changed. The NDP's defence policy was drafted in consultation with a retired NATO general wbo is running for the NDP - maybe there are botter ways to keep the peace. Deliberate distortions of a party's positions by a group that is accountable te ne one is very scary. Give me the political leader wbo "means what ho says" any day. The National Citizens' Coalition - uery, very scary! --= - ----i .1 DUNDAS STREET LOOKING EAST FROM BYRON STREET, 1922 This picture was taken the year after Highway 2 was paved through Whitby. All the buildings shown are still standing, with the exception of the old Bank of Commerce at Brock and Dundas Streets which was replaced with a new building in 1964. Whitby Archives photo 10 YEARS AGO from the Wednesday, August 30, 1978 edition of the WHITBY FREE PRESS • Three prisoners from the Whitby Jail have been charged with break, enter and theft. Two were on a work party and one was out of a day pass. • A fire gutted a 32-foot cruiser at the Whitb'y Yacht Club on Aug. 29, causing $20,000 damage. • Whitby CBC Builders Lacrosse Club is travelling to Westminster, B.C. to compete for the Minto Cup. • Ontario Transport Minister James Snow has endorsed plans for an improved lakeshore bus system between Toronto and Oshawa. 25 YEARS AGO from the Thursday, August 29, 1963 edition of the WHITBY WEEKLY NEWS • Nearly 2,300 pupils are expected to attend eight public schools in Whitby in September. • Information has been leaked about a steel fabrication firm taking an option on property at the foot of Hopkins Street on Lake Ontario. • Ontario Health Minister, Dr. Matthew B. Dymond will open a new school of nursing building at the Ontario Hospital on Sept. 12. • The Whitby Separate School system will expand to Grade 10 in September. 100 YEARS AGO from the Friday, August 31, 1888 edition of the WHITBY CHRONICLE • Edmund Stephenson offers excursions to Detroit and Port Huron, Michigan at a cost of $5 return. • The Chronicle urges Whitby citizens to buy from local merchants instead of from stores in Toronto. • Telephone service is being interrupted by frequent thunderstorms. • Brooklin Methodist Church is planning a "Harvest Home" social event. oqu-ffl